The wing of the plane glided through snow capped peaks as it gracefully turned into Queenstown.
As I stepped off the plane I immediately felt the bite of zero degrees. Usually, I dread the cold, but this time it was a refreshing welcome to winter. The airport was adorned with giant snowflakes and snowboard cut-outs – I couldn’t wait to experience a ‘proper winter’ for the first time. By that, I mean drinking mulled wine, going snowboarding and embracing the crispness of New Zealand’s south.
My partner Scotty and our friends made our way to our cosy Airbnb, just a five minute walk from town. I highly recommend staying somewhere walk-able distance – just make sure you rug up.
“What’s for lunch?” We said. It had to be the famous Ferburger. It’s true what people say, they’re the best burgers in town. The line was out the door, but it was well worth the wait. We loved it so much we had it more than once (not straight after the other, although we were tempted).
After walking through the quaint town, I managed to find some unflattering pants, a pretty sweet snow board and some goggles to hire, (note to self: boarding is not a glamorous sport). Our lift passes were sorted and we were ready for a day up the slopes. But before heading to the white wonderland of Cardrona, we had some other things to tick off the bucket list.
Luging was the first. I’d never heard of it until I moved to New Zealand, so if you haven’t either, it’s tiny carts with wheels that take you down more than 800 metres of banked corners, tunnels and dippers above Queenstown’s stunning mountains. You can do it in Rotorua too and it’s lots of fun.
From there, you can jump on the Gondola, which takes you right up to the Stratosphare Restaurant where there’s even more spectacular views. My eyes were bigger than my stomach as we tucked into the buffet and enjoyed a few drinks.
After heading back down to the ground, we explored a few bars.Tip: don’t go to ‘The Whisky Room’ – it’s really a pub, claiming to be what it isn’t.
Soon after we hit the hay because the world’s biggest Nevis Swing was what was in store early the next morning and I definitely didn’t want to be hungover for that.
After a glorious nights sleep tucked up in layers of blankets, I couldn’t eat breakfast, that nervous feeling in my stomach was too overpowering.
We made our way in the bus with a few other travelers to the platform high above the mountains. My palms started to get sweaty and I started to wonder why I was doing this.
We wish we didn’t! The 70m drop was insane and seeing them swing a further 300m looked terrifying, but we were as ready as we’d ever be.
It was our turn.
If this is your idea of fun – I highly recommend doing it, and while you’re there, you may as well throw in a bungy jump too. Buying the photos and video is a sweet way to remember this by, but the price is a bit steep so come prepared for that. We’d bungy jumped off Auckland Harbour Bridge once before which is the only reason we didn’t do it this time.
The rest of the trip was smooth sailing.
As the sun began to set, we casually strolled back to our Airbnb where we drunk some more wine, (another tip: pick up some bottles at the supermarket when you arrive – there’s nothing better than getting ready for the night while sipping on a glass of red).
Pizza at Winnies was followed by Below Zero Ice Bar, where the cocktails are served in carved ice cups and the photo ops are endless. I wondered it too, why would you go into an ice bar when it’s cold enough outside already? I don’t know the answer, but it was worth not being able to feel my fingers and toes.
From sipping on ice, to not thinking twice – the next stop was mechanical bull riding at Cowboys. It was just something I had to tick off the bucket list, followed by checking out the local rum bar.
The big thing on the agenda that day was doing a TV report for The Project at the Village Ice Skating Rink. I’d memorised my script, got my skates on and gave it my best shot. It was so much fun and I didn’t fall over which was a bonus! I love the thrill of reporting and getting the chance to do it in Queenstown was awesome.
We were up nice and early the next day for snowboarding at Cardrona. Getting to the top of the mountain was breath-taking but going on the ski lift for the first time was a little awkward as I tried to manoeuvre my board onto it with one foot strapped in.
Getting off was a bit weird too, it’s not as easy as it looks! I strapped my other foot in and was ready for our first green run of the day.
It was a little icy in parts of the runs, but by the end of the day I’d got enough confidence to slide the slopes a little better.
The next day we made a stop at the historical Cardrona Hotel for some mulled wine in front of the outdoor fireplace. Highly recommend stopping here on the way to Lake Wanaka. The laid back country vibe and the drinks made for a perfect pit-stop.
Lake Wanaka was another destination with unlimited postcard worthy shots. It’s about an hour and 1/2 drive from Queenstown. There isn’t too much to do apart from admire the way the mountains hug the vast lake, but it’s worth visiting.
From there, a five minute drive will take you to Puzzle World. It sounds cheesy, but going through the warped rooms and racing through the maze is a fun activity (especially if you’re competing against another couple). My favourite part was entering the room where on one side you look tiny, on the other, like a giant. It made me feel like a kid again.
From here on in, we enjoyed a few more (guess what? yep, mulled wines) and a delicious dinner at teppanyaki and sakae bar Tanoshi.
After dinner, we checked out World Bar where they serve up cocktails in teapots – it was our favourite bar yet. After calling it a night, we were sad to hit the pillows as it was our last in the south.
The final day was spent eating tacos at Taco Medic (the service is just as good as the tacos – warm and wonderful) and packing our bags before heading to the airport.